Iron Man director Jon Favreau has completed his latest project and it could not be farther from the big-budget world of Marvel. The director went back to his roots to make an indie comedy called Chef, which has just been chosen to open the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas next month.
Organizers said today that Chef will headline Opening Night on March 7. Favreau wrote, directed and stars in the film, along with Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale,Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey Jr. The film is being distributed by Open Road and is expected to open in May.
In the film, Favreau, who also directed Cowboys vs Aliens and Elf, plays a celebrity chef who loses his job. He then decides to open a food truck in the hopes of rebuilding his life.
Warner Bros.’ Veronica Mars movie with Kristen Bell returning to the role she played on TV will also be premiering at SXSW. The film made headlines last year as the first major Hollywood project to be made with funds raised on Kickstarter.
The other movies announced today were Creep with Mark Duplass; Break Point with Jeremy Sisto; Alexandre O. Philippe’s zombie culture documentary Doc of the Dead; and Christian Larson’s EDM documentary Leave The World Behind. The festival will also screen Fox’s COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
SXSW isn’t just about movies. The festival also announced the musicians who will perform and a sports media program.
image: Wikimedia Commons
